Variations in the behaviors to novel objects among five inbred strains of mice

Novelty stimuli cause various behavioral responses, such as exploration and avoidance, and contextual variables may contribute to the behavioral outputs. Here, we tried to compare the behavioral responses to novel objects of five inbred strains of mice (C57BL/6J, 129/svJae, C3H/HeJ, BALB/cJ and DBA/2J) by using a modified novel object test where a small light-weight cube wrapped with paper was presented to mice in a home cage without beddings. In response to these objects, the C57BL/6J, 129/svJae and C3H/HeJ mice showed mild exploratory behaviors, such as approaching, sniffing or brief contact. In striking contrast, the BALB/cJ and DBA/2J mice, which have been known to show high avoidance/low exploration in other behavioral paradigms, exhibited play-like secondary reactions toward the objects after initial primary exploratory behaviors. Specifically, DBA/2J mice would move the object around in the cage, holding it with their mouths, and BALB/cJ mice would gnaw the object, eventually stripping off the wrapping paper. Such behaviors decreased when similar objects were presented repeatedly. The present results suggest that active manipulations of novel objects may be a relevant parameter for measuring novelty-induced behaviors in mice and appear to be strongly influenced by genetic factors.     

Endocannabinoids render exploratory behaviour largely independent of the test aversiveness: role of glutamatergic transmission

To investigate the impact of averseness, controllability and familiarity of a test situation on the involvement of the endocannabinoid system in the regulation of exploratory behaviour, we tested conventional and conditional cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1)-deficient mice in behavioural paradigms with different emotional load, which depended on the strength of illumination and the ability of the animals to avoid the light stimulus. Complete CB1 null-mutant mice (Total-CB1-KO) showed an anxiogenic-like phenotype under circumstances where they were able to avoid the bright light such as the elevated plus-maze and the light/dark avoidance task. Conditional mutant mice lacking CB1 expression specifically in cortical glutamatergic neurons (Glu-CB1-KO), in contrast, failed to show a similar phenotype under the same experimental conditions. However, both mutant lines showed increased avoidance of open arm exploration during a second exposure to the elevated plus-maze. If tested in situations where the fear eliciting light could not be avoided, Total-CB1-KO mice showed increased thigmotaxis in an open field, decreased social investigation and decreased novel object exploration under aversive light conditions, but not under non-aversive low light. This time, Glu-CB1-KO also showed decreased exploratory behaviour towards objects and conspecific juveniles and increased thigmotaxis in the open field. Taking into consideration that the behavioural performance of wild-type mice was only marginally affected by changes in light intensities, these data indicate that the endocannabinoid system renders exploratory behaviour largely independent of the test averseness. This process differentially involves endocannabinoid-controlled glutamatergic transmission, depending on the controllability of the test situation.     

B-GOS对阿尔茨海默病转基因小鼠认知行为和抑郁情绪的影响*

目的: 观察新型低聚半乳糖(B-GOS)对APP/PS1/tau阿尔茨海默病转基因小鼠认知行为和抑郁情绪的影响。方法: 选用5月龄雄性APP/PS1/tau AD转基因小鼠和C57BL/6J对照小鼠,分为C57+Vehicle组、C57+B-GOS组、APP/PS1/tau+Vehicle组和APP/PS1/tau+B-GOS组,每组10只。B-GOS连续给予5个月后,依次采用旷场实验、新物体识别实验、Y迷宫实验、Morris水迷宫实验、悬尾实验、强迫游泳实验和条件恐惧实验,检测各组小鼠的认知行为表现和抑郁情绪变化。结果: ① 旷场实验:APP/PS1/tau+Vehicle组小鼠在旷场中央区域的活动时间百分比显著低于C57+Vehicle组小鼠(P＜0.01),经过B-GOS干预后显著升高(P＜0.05)。② 新物体识别实验:APP/PS1/tau+Vehicle组小鼠的新物体识别指数(NOI)显著低于C57+Vehicle组小鼠(P＜0.01), 经过B-GOS干预后显著升高(P＜0.05)。③ Y迷宫实验:APP/PS1/tau+Vehicle组小鼠的自发交替正确率显著低于C57+Vehicle组小鼠(P＜0.01),经过B-GOS干预后显著升高(P＜0.01)。④ 经典水迷宫实验:APP/PS1/tau+Vehicle组小鼠在第4日和第5日的逃避潜伏期显著长于C57+Vehicle组小鼠(P＜0.01),经过B-GOS干预后均显著缩短(P＜0.05);在空间探索阶段,APP/PS1/tau+Vehicle组小鼠的目标象限游泳时间百分比和穿越平台次数均显著低于C57+Vehicle组小鼠(P＜0.01),经过B-GOS干预后均显著增加(P＜0.01)。⑤ 悬尾试验和强迫游泳实验:APP/PS1/tau+Vehicle组小鼠的不动时间百分比均显著高于C57+Vehicle组小鼠(P＜0.01),经过B-GOS干预后均显著降低(P＜0.01)。⑥ 条件恐惧实验:在条件刺激(CS)作用前,各组小鼠的僵直比率无统计学差异(P＞0.05)。CS作用后,APP/PS1/tau+Vehicle组小鼠的僵直比率显著低于C57+Vehicle 组小鼠(P＜0.01),经过B-GOS干预后均显著上升(P＜0.01)。结论: B-GOS能够较大程度地逆转APP/PS1/tau小鼠的认知行为损伤,并减轻其抑郁情绪。     

不同品系小鼠在三种常见抑郁检测方法中的行为学表现

目的探讨4种不同品系小鼠在3种实验（空场实验、悬尾实验及强迫游泳实验）中的行为学差异,为抗抑郁新药研究中的实验动物选择提供参考。方法利用空场实验检测C57BL/6、BALB/c、ICR、和昆明小鼠的自主活动能力和对新奇环境的探索能力;利用悬尾实验和强迫游泳实验检测它们在应激刺激下的行为绝望状态。结果在空场实验中,BALB/c、ICR和昆明小鼠的运动总路程、运动速度和运动时间明显高于C57BL/6小鼠（P〈0.05）,ICR和昆明小鼠的直立次数也明显高于C57BL/6小鼠（P〈0.05）;悬尾实验C57BL/6小鼠的不动时间显著长于其他3种品系小鼠（P〈0.05）,但是4种品系小鼠在强迫游泳实验中的不动时间差异无显著性。结论 C57BL/6小鼠自发活动量低,对新奇环境的探索能力差,并且在急性应激刺激下容易造成行为绝望,因此C57BL/6小鼠可能适合作为急性应激抑郁模型动物。     

Whisker exploration behaviours in the 5xFAD mouse are affected by sex and retinal degeneration

Active whisking in mice and rats is one of the fastest behaviours known in mammals and is used to guide complex behaviours such as exploration and navigation. During object contact, whisker movements are actively controlled and undergo robust changes in timing, speed and position. This study quantifies whisker movements in 6‐ to 7‐month old male and female 5xFAD mice, and their C57/SJL F1 wild‐type (WT) controls. As well as genotype, we examined sex differences and the effects of retinal degeneration (rd). Mice were filmed using a high‐speed video camera at 500 frames per second (fps), under infrared light while behaving freely in three tasks: object exploration, sequential object exploration and tunnel running. Measures of whisker position, amplitude, speed and asymmetry were extracted and analysed for each task. The 5xFAD mice had significantly altered whisker angular positions, amplitude and asymmetry during object contacts and female 5xFAD mice with rd had lower mean angular positions during object contact. There were no significant effects of genotype on sequential object exploration or on tunnel running but differences due to sex and rd were found in both tasks, with female mice making larger and faster whisker movements overall, and mice with rd making larger and faster whisker movements during object contact. There were sex differences in whisker movements during sequential object exploration and females with rd had higher whisker retraction speeds in tunnel running. These data show that measuring whisker movements can quantify genotype and sex differences and the effects of rd during exploratory behaviour in these mice.     

Tolerance and Social Facilitation in the Foraging Behaviour of Free‐Ranging Crows (Corvus corone corone; C. c. cornix)

Social foraging provides animals with opportunities to gain knowledge about available food. Studies indicate that animals are influenced by social context during exploration and are able to learn socially. Carrion and hooded crows, which are opportunistic generalists with flexible social systems, have so far received little focus in this area. We combined observational and experimental approaches to investigate social interactions during foraging and social influences on crow behaviour within a free‐ranging population at Vienna Zoo, which included 115 individually marked crows. We expected the crows to be tolerant of conspecifics during foraging due to high food abundance. We predicted that social context would enhance familiar object exploration, as well as a specific foraging strategy: predation by crows on other species. We found that crows were highly tolerant of one another, as reflected by their high rates of cofeeding – where they fed directly beside conspecific(s) – relative to affiliative or agonistic interactions. Evidence for social facilitation – when the observer's behaviour is affected by the mere presence of a model – was found in both object exploration and predation behaviour. Specifically, crows touched the objects more frequently when others were present (whilst only approaching the objects when alone), and conspecifics were present more frequently during predation events involving the high‐risk target species. Evidence for enhancement during object exploration – where the observer's attention is drawn to a place or object by a model's actions – was not confirmed in this context. Our results highlight the role played by the presence of conspecifics across different contexts: natural foraging behaviour, familiar object exploration and a specific foraging strategy. To our knowledge, this is one of the first corvid studies aimed at teasing apart specific social influence and learning mechanisms in the field. These crows therefore make promising candidates for studying social learning and its consequences under naturalistic conditions.     

The brain uses extrasomatic information to estimate limb displacement

A fundamental problem faced by the brain is to estimate whether a touched object is rigidly attached to a ground reference or is movable. A simple solution to this problem would be for the brain to test whether pushing on the object with a limb is accompanied by limb displacement. The mere act of pushing excites large populations of mechanoreceptors, generating a sensory response that is only weakly sensitive to limb displacement if the movements are small, and thus can hardly be used to determine the mobility of the object. In the mechanical world, displacement or deformation of objects frequently co-occurs with microscopic fluctuations associated with the frictional sliding of surfaces in contact or with micro-failures inside an object. In this study, we provide compelling evidence that the brain relies on these microscopic mechanical events to estimate the displacement of the limb in contact with an object, and hence the mobility of the touched object. We show that when pressing with a finger on a stiff surface, fluctuations that resemble the mechanical response of granular solids provoke a sensation of limb displacement. Our findings suggest that when acting on an external object, prior knowledge about the sensory consequences of interacting with the object contributes to proprioception.     

Changes in exploration from courtship to the breeding state in red-rumped parrots (Psephotus haematonotus)

Animals explore their environment to gather information about feeding areas, resting places, or suitable territories for reproduction. During the annual cycle seasonal variation in exploration occurs at least in some species. In this study, exploratory behaviour of red-rumped parrots (Psephotus haematonotus) was investigated during part of the reproductive period including courtship and incubation. On 2 test days 14 pairs in either the courtship or the breeding state were confronted with three unknown objects in their familiar aviary for 6 h on each of 2 days. Test days were separated by a 2-day pause. Exploration by the males did not change from courtship to breeding, whereas in females latency to first contact increased, and duration of exploration and the number of objects touched decreased from courtship to breeding state. Considering the pair as a unit, the total duration of exploration was shorter in breeding pairs than in pairs during courtship. Changes in exploration from the first to the second day of object exposure occurred in both sexes. Males explored longer on the second day, females contacted the objects significantly later on the second day but showed no significant changes in duration of exploration. The changes in exploration might be due to changed cost/benefit considerations during courtship and breeding.     

Effects of gonadectomy and hormone replacement on a spontaneous novel object recognition task in adult male rats

Recent studies in adult male rats have shown that gonadal hormones influence performance on certain working memory and other types of cognitive tasks that are sensitive to lesions of the medial and/or orbital prefrontal cortices. This study asked whether gonadal hormone modulation of prefrontal cortical function in males also extends to the perirhinal division of the rat prefrontal cortex. Specifically, sham-operated control, gonadectomized, and gonadectomized rats supplemented with testosterone propionate or estradiol were tested on a spontaneous novel object recognition task, a paradigm where performance has been shown to be impaired by perirhinal cortical lesions. Using analyses of variance, regression analyses and post-hoc testing to evaluate group differences, it was found that during both the sample and test trials of the task all four groups spent similar absolute and proportional amounts of time ambulating, rearing, stationary, and exploring the two objects present. All groups also explored each of the two identical objects present during sample trials equally. However, during the test trials, only the control and gonadectomized rats given testosterone showed the expected increase in exploration of the novel objects presented, whereas the gonadectomized and gonadectomized, estradiol-supplemental groups continued to explore the novel and familiar objects equally. That regression analyses also identified significant correlations between low bulbospongiosus muscle weight and impaired novel vs. familiar object discrimination further indicates that gonadectomy in adult male rats adversely affects spontaneous novel object recognition in an androgen-sensitive, estrogen-insensitive manner.     

Recognition memory in tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri) after repeated familiarization sessions

Recognition memories are formed during perceptual experience and allow subsequent recognition of previously encountered objects as well as their distinction from novel objects. As a consequence, novel objects are generally explored longer than familiar objects by many species. This novelty preference has been documented in rodents using the novel object recognition (NOR) test, as well is in primates including humans using preferential looking time paradigms. Here, we examine novelty preference using the NOR task in tree shrew, a small animal species that is considered to be an intermediary between rodents and primates. Our paradigm consisted of three phases: arena familiarization, object familiarization sessions with two identical objects in the arena and finally a test session following a 24-h retention period with a familiar and a novel object in the arena. We employed two different object familiarization durations: one and three sessions on consecutive days. After three object familiarization sessions, tree shrews exhibited robust preference for novel objects on the test day. This was accompanied by significant reduction in familiar object exploration time, occurring largely between the first and second day of object familiarization. By contrast, tree shrews did not show a significant preference for the novel object after a one-session object familiarization. Nonetheless, they spent significantly less time exploring the familiar object on the test day compared to the object familiarization day, indicating that they did maintain a memory trace for the familiar object. Our study revealed different time courses for familiar object habituation and emergence of novelty preference, suggesting that novelty preference is dependent on well-consolidated memory of the competing familiar object. Taken together, our results demonstrate robust novelty preference of tree shrews, in general similarity to previous findings in rodents and primates.     

Exploration as an indicator of good welfare in beef bulls: An attempt to develop a test for on-farm assessment

Exploration appears to be carried out for its own purpose due to being self-rewarding. Furthermore, it increases environmental certainty with the effect of increased predictability and control of the environment. We, therefore, supposed that exploratory behaviour is associated with positive emotions and could be a valuable tool in the assessment of animal welfare from the positive side. Since assessing the level of exploration in daily life is time consuming, the goal of our study was to develop a feasible on-farm test to estimate the daily exploratory level of beef bulls. This was based on the hypothesis that bulls in barren environments (here: pens with fully slatted floors) will explore an unknown object more than those housed under more enriched conditions (here: littered pens). A novel object test at the feed rack over a 1-h period was carried out in 64 groups of fattening bulls on farms in Germany and Austria. In order to evaluate sensitivity of the test half of the barren pens in Germany were slightly enriched after these tests and bulls tested again after 1 week. During the first three quarters of the test hour, significantly more barren-housed bulls were occupied with the objects than animals in littered pens. This was predominantly due to more licking/chewing of the novel object. However, the differences in exploration levels were only slight. Moreover, the test was not sensitive to the slight short-term change in stimulation of the bulls following the simple enrichment. The motivational basis for increased exploration of the novel object by licking or chewing in bulls kept in barren conditions is not clear-cut. While it might reflect that these bulls gain less positive emotions from intrinsic exploration in their daily life, nutritional aspects may also play a role. While further investigations should aim to identify the motivational basis of occupation with the novel object and relate true daily exploration levels to test results, for the on-farm assessment of good animal welfare the test appears not to be promising in its current form.     

A reduction in hippocampal GABAA receptor α5 subunits disrupts the memory for location of objects in mice

The memory for location of objects, which binds information about objects to discrete positions or spatial contexts of occurrence, is a form of episodic memory particularly sensitive to hippocampal damage. Its early decline is symptomatic for elderly dementia. Substances that selectively reduce α5‐GABA_A receptor function are currently developed as potential cognition enhancers for Alzheimer's syndrome and other dementia, consistent with genetic studies implicating these receptors that are highly expressed in hippocampus in learning performance. Here we explored the consequences of reduced GABA_Aα5‐subunit contents, as occurring in α5(H105R) knock‐in mice, on the memory for location of objects. This required the behavioral characterization of α5(H105R) and wild‐type animals in various tasks examining learning and memory retrieval strategies for objects, locations, contexts and their combinations. In mutants, decreased amounts of α5‐subunits and retained long‐term potentiation in hippocampus were confirmed. They exhibited hyperactivity with conserved circadian rhythm in familiar actimeters, and normal exploration and emotional reactivity in novel places, allocentric spatial guidance, and motor pattern learning acquisition, inhibition and flexibility in T‐ and eight‐arm mazes. Processing of object, position and context memories and object‐guided response learning were spared. Genotype difference in object‐in‐place memory retrieval and in encoding and response learning strategies for object–location combinations manifested as a bias favoring object‐based recognition and guidance strategies over spatial processing of objects in the mutants. These findings identify in α5(H105R) mice a behavioral–cognitive phenotype affecting basal locomotion and the memory for location of objects indicative of hippocampal dysfunction resulting from moderately decreased α5‐subunit contents.     

The role of antennal hair plates in object-guided tactile orientation of the cockroach (Periplaneta americana)

The searching behavior of blinded cockroaches was examined under unrestrained conditions, in an arena, and on a treadmill. When cockroaches searching in a circular arena touched a stationary object (metal pole) with their antennae, they frequently approached the object more closely, and then climbed up it. Similar orientation behavior was observed in tethered animals in open loop conditions, walking on a Styrofoam ball. In these restrained cockroaches, a single antenna sufficed to distinguish the angular positions of an object, in the horizontal plane (0 degrees, 45 degrees, and 90 degrees). A group of mechanosensitive hairs on the basal segment of the antenna (scapal hair plate) appears to play a major role in antennal object detection in the horizontal plane, as gauged by shaving off these scapal hair plates. In unrestrained cockroaches, shaving the scapal hair plate increased the time needed to approach an object. Under tethered conditions, the ability to turn towards and to establish antennal contact with a test object was significantly impaired.     

Object/Context Specific Memory Deficits following Medial Frontal Cortex Damage in Mice

Recent evidence suggests that the medial prefrontal cortex (MFC) is important for processing contextual information. Here we evaluate the performance of mice with MFC damage in a discrimination task that requires an association between an object and the context in which it was experienced (the object/context mismatch task), as well as a version of the novel object preference task that does not require knowledge of contextual information to resolve. Adult C57/BL6 mice received aspiration lesions of the MFC or control surgery. Upon recovery, mice were tested in the object/context mismatch and novel object preference tasks. The object/context mismatch task involved exposing mice to two different contexts, each of which housed a unique pair of identical objects. After a brief delay, mice were re-exposed to one of the contexts, this time with one object that was congruent with that context and one that was not. Novel object preference was performed within a single context, housing an identical pair of objects. After the initial exposure and following a brief delay, mice were re-exposed to the context, this time housing a familiar and a novel object. Control mice were able to successfully resolve the object/context mismatch and novel object preference discriminations, investigating the incongruent/novel object within each task significantly greater than chance. Mice with MFC damage experienced deficits in the object/context mismatch task but not the novel object preference task. These findings add to a growing body of evidence that demonstrate a critical role for the MFC in contextual information processing.     

Genetic Difference of Hypothyroidism-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction in C57BL/6j and 129/Sv Mice

Adult-onset hypothyroidism induces cognitive impairments in learning and memory. Thyroxin (T4) replacement therapy appears to be effective in biochemically restoring euthyroidism, as evidenced by serum T4 and triiodothyronine concentrations within the normal range, although some the patients still exhibit cognitive dysfunctions. Here, we investigated the cognitive functions of propylthiouracil-induced hypothyroid mice in C57BL/6j and 129/Sv strains using the passive avoidance task and the novel object recognition test. Cognitive dysfunctions in hypothyroid mice were found only in the C57BL/6j strain, not in the 129/Sv strain. Further, we found that cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain increased the membrane potential and input resistance with decreased capacitance, and that they decreased the amplitude and width of action potential in hypothyroid mice in the C57BL/6j strain but not in those in the 129/Sv strain, compared with the controls for each strain. Additionally, the excitability of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain was reduced in the hypothyroid mice in the C57BL/6j strain. These results indicated that transgenic mice with the C57BL/6j genetic background are more suitable for revealing the mechanism underlying hypothyroidism-induced cognitive dysfunction, and that the cholinergic basal forebrain may be the appropriate target for treating cognitive dysfunction in adult-onset hypothyroidism.

     

Behavioural studies of MHC‐congenic mice

Behavioural studies of MHC‐congenic mice and rats have focused primarily on mate choice and the ability to discriminate between strains by their urine odours, but these strains may differ in other behaviours, such as activity and ultrasonic vocalizations. Ivanyi (1978, Proc. Roy. Soc. Lord. 202, 117–158) has reviewed the physiological differences associated with the MHC, many of which could influence behaviour. We have started a systematic study of behavioural development and adult behaviour in MHC‐congenic mice. A developmental test battery (growth, rate, locomotion, grooming, eye opening, ultrasonic vocalizations, etc.) was used to examine differences between C57BL/6J vs. B6‐H‐2^bm1 and C57BL/10SnJ vs. B10.BR/sgSnJ mice. A test battery of spontaneous behaviours (activity, exploration, ultrasonic vocalizations, etc.) was used to examine behavioural differences between adult C57BL/6J vs. B6‐H‐2^bm1 and C57BL/10SnJ vs. B10.BR/sgSnJ mice. Differences in development and in adult behaviours between these MHC-congenic strains is discussed in relation to possible neural, endocrine and immune system differences. Future studies will compare MHC-congenic mice on levels of anxiety, sociosexual behaviour and on learning paradigms. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effects of experience and object complexity on exploration in garden warblers (Sylvia borin)

Animals are increasingly exposed to novel environmental conditions because of human activities. An organism's ability to cope with these challenges is critical to its survival. The decision of whether or not an animal should investigate environmental changes involves a trade-off between the risk and the potential benefit of a novel resource. Novelty often elicits approach (exploratory) as well as avoidance behaviour in animals, and the extent of each of these behaviours may influence learning about the environment. We formulated and tested several hypotheses to determine how external factors (complexity of a novel stimulus) and internal factors (experience with objects) might influence exploration latencies to touch a novel object based on either cost or benefit considerations. Garden warblers were confronted with a simple and a complex novel object in their familiar cages, and latencies until first touch were measured. Additionally, corticosterone levels before and after the experiment were measured to assess whether differences in baseline levels might explain variations in latency to approach and whether presentation of novel objects is stressful. The complex object was touched significantly later than the simple object. Experienced birds investigated both types of objects later than inexperienced birds. Although birds showed marked approach–avoidance behaviour with the complex object, none of the objects elicited a corticosterone stress response. The results indicate that garden warblers consider both costs and benefits when exploring novel objects, and that the relative influence of costs and benefits varies with external and internal factors.     

Strain differences in activity and emotionality do not account for differences in learning and memory performance between C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice

This study examined emotionality, activity, learning and memory, as well as the influence of emotionality and activity on learning and memory performance in C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice using a mouse-test battery. DBA/2 mice performed more poorly than C57BL/6 mice in complex learning tasks such as the water maze and object recognition tasks. In contrast, C57BL/6 mice showed attenuated habituation to novelty in the open field apparatus and poorer performance in the step-down passive avoidance task. The C57BL/6 mice were less exploratory and more anxious than the DBA/2 mice. The anxiety score (open arm entries in the elevated plus maze) was significantly correlated with all measures of learning and memory in the object recognition task, and some measures in the passive avoidance and water maze tasks. Analysis of covariance (with open arm entries as a covariate) revealed that some measures on trial 1 of the object recognition task, but not the memory scores on trial 2, were confounded by anxiety. No confounding factors of anxiety were found in the water maze or passive avoidance tasks. Similar results were obtained with the activity scores (line crossing and rearing in the open field). In conclusion, strain differences in activity and anxiety did not account for strain differences in learning and memory performance of C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice. Nonetheless, the importance of using complete behavioural test batteries should be stressed to ensure that strain differences in learning and memory tasks are not confounded by non-cognitive factors.     

Prenatal exposure to gamma/neutron irradiation: sensorimotor alterations and paradoxical effects on learning

The effects of prenatal exposure on gamma/neutron radiations (0.5 Gy at about the 18th day of fetal life) were studied in a hybrid strain of mice (DBA/Cne males x C57BL/Cne females). During ontogeny, measurements of sensorimotor reflexes revealed in prenatally irradiated mice 1) a delay in sensorial development, 2) deficits in tests involving body motor control, and 3) a reduction of both motility and locomotor activity scores. In adulthood, the behaviour of prenatally irradiated and control mice was examined in the open field test and in reactivity to novelty. Moreover, their learning performance was compared in several situations. The results show that, in the open field test, only rearings were more frequent in irradiated mice. In the presence of a novel object, significant sex x treatment interactions were observed since ambulation and leaning against the novel object increased in irradiated females but decreased in irradiated males. Finally, when submitted to different learning tasks, irradiated mice were impaired in the radial maze, but paradoxically exhibited higher avoidance scores than control mice, possibly because of their low pain thresholds. Taken together, these observations indicate that late prenatal gamma/neutron irradiation induces long lasting alterations at the sensorimotor level which, in turn, can influence learning abilities of adult mice.